Hooray! I’ve reached a great goal. I’ve achieved losing 37 pounds, which is 10% of my body weight. (Technically, I’m sitting at 36.8, but I already had this blog written, so please forgive me the .2 lb. 😉 )

I have lots of mini goals along the way to keep me motivated, but this is one of the incremental goals that I’ve been looking forward to for a while.

There are a ton of health benefits tied to losing just 10% of your body weight, which is an achievable goal for just about anyone. Among them are lower cholesterol, lower risks for heart disease, type II diabetes, and some kinds of cancer. Visceral fat, the fat that surrounds your internal organs, reduces. All kinds of good stuff is going on inside.

Those are fantastic reasons to embark on a healthy weight loss plan, but they’re also ones that you probably don’t know how your risks have changed unless you visit a doctor; they’re more or less hidden. They’re important, but easily forgotten on the days when weight loss just seems like too great of a challenge.

Biscuit, 37 lb. shelter kitty

The more obvious changes, for me, include improvement in a lot of things, particularly ease of movement. Go ahead and find something that weighs roughly 37 pounds; maybe it’s your dog, a small child, or Biscuit, the 37 pound cat in the included pic. Or, imagine carrying around a concrete block; they tend to weigh around 35 pounds, but that’s close enough.

Then, after you’ve chosen your 37 pound thing, pick it up and carry it around with you. Carry it to the kitchen. Up the stairs. Out to your car. Walk around your favorite discount store with it. Heck, strap it on your back while you’re mowing the lawn, or let it sit on your lap while you’re watching tv. Don’t ever set it down; carry it around like it’s part of you. That trip to the fridge for a snack? Concrete block.

How soon will you be tired of carrying your 37 pound thing around with you? Pretty quickly, I imagine.

If you’re in the process of losing weight and you’re also getting frustrated because you don’t think you’ve lost all that much, pick something similar in weight to your current weight loss and carry it around with you. Even carrying around 5 pounds will get irritating after a while, and maybe you’ll realize that even losing 5 pounds has been a bigger improvement than you originally thought.

A little over five months ago, my 37 pound thing was following me around everywhere; into the shower, to the store, to client meetings, into the dressing room at the clothing store. I walked with it, slept with it, ate with it, bathed with it, watched movies with it, visited friends and relatives with it.

I’m glad it’s gone. My lungs work better, my knees are happier, my back is thankful. My clothes fit better; even my shoes fit better. There’s more room between the steering wheel and my body. I can reach my own feet easier. I can stand and move around for longer periods of time. It’s just easier for me to move, to sit, to stand, to do everything — without that 37 pounds.

While my 10% goal is probably a lot higher than your 10% goal, it was still relatively painless to achieve. It’s a nice marker, an encouragement for greater progress, and it helps me look forward to getting that next 10% off, because the improvements will be even greater.